Photographic printing machine



Patented Aug. 20, 1929.

GEORGE E. HOLM, 0F WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

`PHO'lOGrRAIHIC PRINTING MACHNE.

Application led March 26, 1923.

My invention relates tophotographic printing machines, and it has special rela tion to photographic machines for simultaneously printing a relatively large number of negatives at one setting.

One object ot' my invention is to provide a machine ot' the above-indicated character whereby either, a strip comprising several negatives or a series of cut films or glass negatives may be readily printed at one setting.

Another object of my invention is .to provide a photographic printing machine for simultaneously printing a number of negatives with the additional provision of regulation of the printing light for the individual negatives, whereby negatives requiring different degrees of exposure or different lengths of printing periods may be simult-aneously printed to produce the best results for each individual negative.

A further object of my invention is to provide an arrangement whereby the same light that is used for printing purposes shall be automatically dimmed upon raising the printing platen or cover of the machine, whereby the next strip of films or glass negatives may be readily placed in position and each negative correctly judged as to the amount of light required.

Still another object of my invention is to provide, in a machine of the above-indicated character, an adjustable masking device whereby an even width of white margin or a variable margin between and around negatives may be produced, as desired.

A further object'of my invention is to provide a novel form of rlieostatic device for regulating the amount of light produced by the individual printing lamps.

Other objects of my invention will become evident from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure l is a top plan view, with parts broken away, of a photographic printing machine, constructed in accordance with my present invention,

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line II-II of Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of a portion of the masking device that is shown in the previous figures,

Serial No. 627,842.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical circuits employed in connection with my invention, and

Fig. 5 is an elevational view ot the preerred form oi' rheostatic devices that I employ in my machine.

Referring to the drawings, the structure here shown comprises a suitable container, such as a wooden box or receptacle 1 having a forwardly sloping top 2 to permit convenient placing and removal ot the films and printing paper, the top 2 being provided with a centrally located glass plate or window 3, a cover or platen device 4 being provided for covering the window 3 when printing is in operation. A hinged door 5 comprises a. portion of the entire front wall of the box to permit ready access to the several incandescent lamps or lights 6, which are shown as arranged in a single row underneath the glass window 3.

The cover or platen device 4 may comprise a pair of suitably hinged wooden blocks or slabs 8 and 9, the undersides of which are covered with a layer of felt l0 or other suitable material, for resting upon the glass window 3. An operating handle or lever ll is secured to the slabs 8 and 9 by a chain connection 12, the lower end ot the lever 11 being attached to the rear wall o tgthe box 1 by means of a spring hinge 13, whereby the platen device 4 is normally rotated into its illustrated open position. The block or slab 8 is directly hinged to the rear wall of the box 1 by means of a pair of ordinary hinges 14, as cleaily shown in Fig. l.

A resistor or suitable voltage-reducing device 15 is mounted upon the rear wall of the box l, out of the way ot the machine operatoi, for the purpose of dimming the entire set of lamps 6 when the platen 4 is raised from its printing position, as subsequently described in detail. The resistor l5 may be of any suitable type and is here shown as comprising an insulated tube around which a coil of wire is wound, being afterwards covered with enamel or the like and baked. It will be understood, however,

vthat any resistor designed to reduce the illumination within the printing machine to the desired extent may be utilized.

In addition to the resistor l5, for effecting a general control of all the lamps 6, a

plurality of rheostats 16 are mounted on the top wall 2 of the box 1 near the rear side thereof, for the purpose of controlling the illumination of the individual lamps 6.

A push-button device or spring switch 17, normally occupying its illustrated open position, is located in the central rear portion of the top wall 2 in a position to be engaged by a part of the handle or lever 11 when occupying its lower or printing position, for the purpose of shortcircuiting the resistor y 15, as hereinafter more fully described.

ln Fig. 1, the strip of film 19 is shown as placed in position upon the glass, window 3, with the photographic paper 2O placed in proper position above the film 19. The lefthand ends of the strips of film and of paper are held in position by a suitable spring clip 21 that may be mounted upon a metal bar 22 near the left-hand end of the box 1 or in any other suitable manner. A thin metal strip 22a is held under the bar 22, the ends of the film and paper being slipped under the strip` 22a. Y l

My adjustable masking device further comprises a thin bar or strip of metal 23, which extends along one side of the window 3 for maintaining the film and paper in proper position, the metal strip 23 being permanently held in position by a stationary bar 24, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Near the opposite side of the window 3, a second metallic strip or bar 25 is movably mounted to thus accommodate any width of film or provide any desired width of white margin on the one side of the paper. rlhe bar 25 may be slidably mounted at its ends in any suitable manner, such as by a tongue-and-groove connection with the metal end bar 22 and with a second end bar (not shown) located near the opposite end of the box 1.`

A relatively large finger or slide 26y has. an inverted l-shaped end for sliding along the stationary bar 214, to which it may be suitably secured, as by the illustrated tliumbscrew, for holding the right-hand end of the film 19 and paper 20 in position, irrespective of the length thereof, that is to say, whether one negative or a number of negatives corresponding to the limit of capacity of the machine is Abeing printed at the time.

A third longitudinally-extending bar 27, of metal or forming a portion of the wooden receptacle 1, extends parallel to the bar 24 near the front edge of the box for the purpose of guiding the ends of a plurality of spacing and film-retaining fingers 30, which extend beneath the bar 24 and are shown in perspective View in Fig. 3.

The fingers 30 are composite in character,

severally comprising a pair of fiat members,

or strips 31 and`32', which are adapted to overlap each other to different degrees, depending upon the relative positions thereof. rlhe lower or, stationary strip 31 terminates in a channel member or the equivalent 33, while the upper or movable strip 32 terminates in a similar channel member 34 of smaller dimensions. The opening 35 in one side of the upper channel member 34 is of the same width as the strip 32, which extends outwardly therefrom; whereas the opening 36 in the side corresponding to the strip 31 is greater in width than the strip itself. Consequently, the upper strip 32 may slide over the lower strip 31 to a degree that is restricted only by the tabs k38 on opposite sides of the opening 3G.

VThe purpose of the expansible or veriabley fingers V30 is to permit variation, for any reason, of the white space or margin between individual negatives tliatoappears upon the photographic paper.

Referring more particularly to the electrical circuits that are shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4, a positive supply-circuit conductor 40, which may be attached to the ordinary lighting circuit through any well-known plug-and socket-device or the like, is normally, that is, when the apparatus occupies the position shown in Fig. 2, connected through the resistor 15 and conductors 41 and 42 to a common bus or conductor 43, from which a plurality of branch conductors 44 extend through the respective rb eostats 16 and lamps 6 to a common negative bus or conductor 45, which in turn is connected to the negative supplycircuit conductor 46, as will be understood.

In the event that the platen or cover device 4 is depressed to its lower or printing position by the handle 11, the switch 17 is engaged thereby to be actuated to its lower or circuit-closing position, in which the movable contact member 47 is adapted to shortcircuit the entire'resistor 15, thus simultaneously increasing the voltagethat is impressed upon all of the lamps 6.

Referring now to Fig. 5, which shows the preferred' form of my rheostatic device 1.6, a base member or plate 50, preferably of insulating material, has a suitable number of convolutions of bare wire 51 wound in the direction of the greatest dimension thereof.

A pair of Ushaped insulating members 52 and 53 are suitably secured by rivets or screws to opposite ends of the base member or plate 50 for the purpose of suitablv supporting the latter and also for rendering the mounting and detachment of the rheostat with respect to the box 1 easy toL effect.

A body of insulating material 54/ surrounds or 1s secured on top of the half or other suitable portion of the base member 50- while a second insulating body or member 55 is similarly located or secured with respect to the remaining portion of' the base member.v Confronting edges of the insulating members 54 and 55 are preferably arcuate in shape and are adapted to leavev a relatively narrow are-shaped portion or path 55a across the convolutions of the bare wire 51. A contact arm or other suitable contact member 56 is provided with an operating handle or knob 57 which is pivotally secured to the U- shaped member In this way, the contact arm 56 may swing across the exposed arc-shaped portion of the wire convulutions 51 to vary the effective amount of resistance in circuit with each of the lamps 6.

One terminal of the wire 51 may comprise a screw, rivet or the like 58 near one end of the rheostat, while the contact arm 56 or the pivot of the knob 57 may comprise the other terminal. However, any other suitable arrangement of terminal members may be employed if desired. For readily mounting` the rheostat 16 upon the top wall 2 of the receptacle 1, preferably near the rear side thereof, and beyond the platen 4, a plurality of screw holes 59 are provided in the respective U-shaped members 52 and Assuming that the various parts occupy the positions illustrated and that the supply circuit conductors 40 and 46 are energized, the operation of the invention may be set forth as follows. Since the platen 4 occupies the raised position shown in Fig. 2, by reason of the action of the spring hinge 13, the switch 17 occupies its open position, and the resistor 15 is in circuit with the entire set of lamps 6. The illumination from these lamps is, therefore, relatively low and, while sufficient to permit placing the film, or films or glass negatives and the photographic paper in position upon the window 3 and the adjustment of the Various met-al holding members of the masking device, the degree of light is not sufficient to fog or blur the paper.

As soon as the film or glass negative and paper have been placed in position, and held by the end-holding devices 2l and 26, the intermediate spacers or fingers 30 may be adjusted to the proper position to provide the desired degree of white margin between the negatives on the photographic paper. It will be understood that, by slipping the film and paper under, or the glass negatitve over, the stationary longitudinal strip 23 and then actuating the movable longitudinal bar 25 over the opposite side of the film or glass negative and paper, the desired white marginal spaces along the entire length of the photographic paper may also be readily secured.

The degree of light emitted by the dimmed lamps 6 will also be sufficient to enable proper judgment of the relative amounts of printing light that Will be necessary for the proper printing of the individual negatives. The individual rheostats 16 may thus be manipulated to increase or decrease the initial amount of light provided by the lamps 6 and the intensity emitted thereby under printing conditions about to be described will correspond, that is to say, while one lamp or a pair of lamps 6 under one negativel may be relatively bright to satisfy the requirements of that negatitve, the neighboring lamps may be somewhat dimmed by manipulation. of the corresponding rheostats 16 to provide a. less intense printing light for the correspondingr negative.

After the preliminary adjustments noted above, the handle member 11 may be depressed to cause the platen 4 to assume its printing position covering the photographic paper, and, at the same time, the switch 17 will be automatically operated to short-circuit the resistor 15 and thus increase the illumination or intensity of the lamps 6 to the predetermined full degree.

In this way, each negative or the two parts of any one negative may be provided with different degrees of printing light, and, as soon as any one film is properly printed. all of the others will likewise be properly printed and the entire strip may be removed after permitting the handle 11 to assume its illustrated open position.

It will be seen that I have thus provided a photographic printing machine whereby an entire roll of films of any standard size or a series of cut films or Glass nega-tives may be placed and printed at one operation, an even white margin being printed around every picture, if so desired. The simplicity and convenience of handling such a continuous strip through all the photographic processes will be readily appreciated. Furthermore, my invention permits the proper printing or degree of exposure of a number of negatives in a roll because of the adjustability of the individual electric lamps or light sources. For example, one picture may be a snap shot, taken ona bright day and the next picture a time exposure, taken inside aI building, which requires several times as much light in printing. By suitable adjustment of the individual rheostats 16, the proper amount of lightto suit the requirements of each of these negatitves or those taken under any other conditions may be readily provided for before the printing operation takes place, inasmuch as a. sufficient amount of light for placing the films and paper and for changing the amount of light required for the individual negatives is automatically provided upon opening or raising the platen or cover of the machine.

I desire it to be understood that the term film or negative, as used in the claims, is intended to include not only the Celluloid but also the glass variety, or any other suitable type.

I do not wish to be restricted to the specific circuit connections or arrangements of parts herein set forth, as various modifications thereof may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I desire7 therefore, that only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a photographic printing machine, the combination with a printing surface adapted for simultaneously printing a .plurality of negatives, of a plurality of individually adjustable sources of light corresponding to the respective negatives.

2. In a photographic printing machine,

the combination with a printing surface adapted for simultaneously printing a plurality of negatives, of light-producing means for effecting such printing, and means for regulating said light-producingmeaiis to simultaneously provide different light intensities for the respective negatives.

8. In a photographic printing machine, the combination With a printing surface adapted for simultaneously printing a plurality of negatives of light-producing means, for effecting said printing, adjustable at vvill to suit the requirements of the individual negatives. f a

il. In a photographic printing machine, the combination With a printing surface adapted for simultaneously printing a plurality of negatives, of a plurality of electric lights for effecting said printing, and aphirality of voltage-varying devices for individually adjusting the intensities of the respective lights to suit the requirements of the corresponding negatives.

5. In a photographic printing machine, the combination With a receptacle provided With a transparent Vprinting plate, adapted for simultaneously printing a plurality of negatives, of a plurality of electric lights located Within said receptacle for effecting said printing, and a plurality of rheostats located outside said receptacle for individuallyV adj usting the intensities of the respective lights to suit the requirements of the corresponding negatives.

6. In a photographic printing machine, the combination with a source of light for effecting the printing, of means for dimming said source When initially placing the negative and the photographic paper. j

7. In ay photographic printing machine, the combination With a source of light for effecting the printing, of a movable member forl covering the negative and photographic paper during the printing operation, and means responsive to the uncovering movement of said member for reducing the intensity of said source of light to a value sufficient to prevent fogging the photographic paper when initially placed in the machine.

8. In a photographic printing machine, the combination with a source of light for effecting the printing, of a movable cover for the negative and photographic paper during the printing operation, and means responsive to the movements of said cover for decreasing the intensity of said source of light to a predetermined dim value.V

9. In a photographic printing machine, the combination With an electric light for effecting the printing, of a movable cover for the negative and photographic paper during the printing operation, a resistor, and means dependent upon the position of said cover for cutting said resistor into and out of circuit With said light.

l0. In a'photographic printing machine, the combination with an electric light for effecting the printing, of a movable cover for the negative and photographic paper during the printing operation, a resistor in circuit Wit-h said light, and a switch operative in the lowered position of said cover to short-circuit said resistor.

11. In a photographic printing machine, the combination With a printing surface adapted for simultaneously printing a plurality of negatives, of a plurality of individually adjustable sources of light corresponding to the respective negatives, a cover for said printing surface, and means dependent upon the position of said cover for simultaneously varying the intensities of all said sources of light.

l2. In a photographic printing machine, the combination With a printing surface adapted for simultaneously printing a plurality of negatives, of light-producing means for eecting such printing, means for regulating said light-producing means to simultaneously provide different light intensities for the respective negatives, a cover for said printing surface, and means responsive to a certain movement of said coverfor simultaneously reducing all of said light intensities.

13. In a photographic printing machine, the combination With a printing surface adapted for simultaneously printing a plurality of negatives, of a plurality of electric lights for effecting said printing, a plurality of voltage-varying devices for individually adjusting the intensities of the respective lights to suit the? requirements of the corresponding negatives, a cover for said printing surface, and means responsive to the raising movement of said cover for simultaneously reducing the intensities of all said lights.

14. In a photographic printing machine, the combination With a printing surface adapted forsimultaneously printing a plurality of negatives, of a plurality of electric lights for effecting said printing, and a plurality of voltage varying devices for individually adjusting the intensities of the respective lights to suit the requirements of the corresponding negatives, of a plurality of electric lights for effecting said printing, a plurality of rheostats for individually adjusting the intensities of the respective lights to suit the requirements of the corresponding negatives, a cover for said printing surface, a resistor, and a switch for cutting said resistor in and out of circuit With all of said lights When the cover is raised and lowered respectively.

l5. In a photographic printing machine, the combination With a source otl light for eifecting the printing, or' means for automatically dimming said source to constitute the only illumination for initially placing the negative and the photographic paper.

16. In a photographic printing machine, the combination with a source of light for effecting the printing, of a movable cover for the negative and means responsive to the movements of said cover for reducing the intensity of said source to provide the only available illumination in the machine.

17. In a photographic printing machine, the combination With electric light means for eifecting the printing, oi a movable cover for the negative, a resisor, and means dependent upon the position of said cover for cutting said resistor into or out of circuit with said light means to provide the only illumination of the machine available under any operating condition thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 23rd day of March GEORGE E. HOLM. 

